Elizabeth Taylor’s Personal Menorahs Being Displayed for Hanukkah Before Auction
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Two menorahs owned by the late fashion icon and actress Elizabeth Taylor will be on display for Hanukkah at a gallery in New York and then auctioned in January.
The menorahs will be showcased at the J Greenstein Gallery in New York throughout the holiday season along with a menorah exhibition.
They were purchased at Taylor’s estate sale and will be up from auction by J. Greenstein & Co., a boutique auction house that deals exclusively with antique Jewish ritual objects and art.
The taller sterling silver menorah is estimated to be valued between $7,000-$9,000 and was given to Taylor by her head of security, who brought it back from Israel for her as a gift.
The shorter silver metal Godinger menorah, together with a cobalt leaded glass Star of David, is estimated at between $15,000 – $20,000.
The “Cleopatra” star converted to Judaism in 1959 before marrying singer Eddie Fisher.
Jonathan Greenstein, founder and president of J. Greenstein & Co., said that along with Taylor’s menorahs, the upcoming auction will feature items representing “over a hundred years of Jewish heritage, from 1700s Eastern Europe to Hollywood in the middle of the 20th century,” including a passport that belonged to Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky and a letter signed by physicist Albert Einstein.